Common Health Problems For Truck Drivers and How To Prevent Them

Preventing Common Health Problems for Truckers

Truck drivers play a critical role in our economy, transporting goods and products across the country. However, the nature of their job often requires them to spend long hours on the road, leading to a sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition, and sleep deprivation. 

These factors can contribute to several health problems that are prevalent among truck drivers, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. 

In this blog, we will explore some of the most common health problems faced by truck drivers and provide practical tips and strategies for preventing them. By prioritizing their health and well-being, truck drivers can improve their quality of life and continue to play an essential role in our economy.

 

Health Problems Faced by Truck Drivers

Truck drivers face numerous health problems due to the nature of their job. Here are some of the most common health issues faced by truck drivers:

 

  • Sedentary lifestyle: Driving for long hours while sitting can lead to a sedentary lifestyle, which can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems.
  • Sleep deprivation and sleep disorders: Many truck drivers do not get enough sleep due to irregular schedules, long hours, and sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea.
  • Poor nutrition and dietary habits: Limited access to healthy food options and reliance on fast food and convenience stores can lead to poor nutrition and dietary habits.
  • Mental health issues: Truck drivers often face stress, loneliness, and isolation, which can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
  • Exposure to hazardous materials and pollutants: Exposure to hazardous materials and pollutants, such as diesel exhaust, can lead to respiratory problems, cancer, and other health issues.
  • Musculoskeletal disorders: The repetitive nature of truck driving can lead to musculoskeletal disorders, such as back pain, neck pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
  • Cardiovascular disease: The sedentary lifestyle and poor dietary habits of truck drivers can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke.
  • Substance abuse: Due to the high levels of stress and long hours on the road, some truck drivers turn to substance abuse, which can lead to addiction and other health problems.

It is essential for truck drivers to be aware of these health problems and take proactive steps to prevent them.

Prevention Strategies

To prevent health problems among truck drivers, here are some strategies that can be implemented:

  • Regular exercise: Encouraging truck drivers to engage in regular exercises, such as stretching, walking, or strength training, can help combat the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
  • Healthy eating: Providing healthy food options and educating truck drivers about healthy eating habits can promote good nutrition and prevent dietary-related health problems.
  • Sleep hygiene: Promoting good sleep hygiene practices, such as maintaining a regular sleep schedule and creating a comfortable sleep environment, can help prevent sleep disorders and improve overall sleep quality.
  • Mental health support: Offering mental health support services, such as counseling or peer support groups, can help truck drivers cope with the stress and isolation of their job.
  • Hazardous materials training: Providing training on how to handle hazardous materials and pollutants can help prevent exposure and reduce the risk of respiratory problems and other health issues.
  • Ergonomic adjustments: Making ergonomic adjustments to truck cabs, such as adjusting the seat and steering wheel, can help prevent musculoskeletal disorders and improve driver comfort.
  • Regular health check-ups: Encouraging regular health check-ups and screenings, such as blood pressure and cholesterol checks, can help identify health problems early and prevent them from worsening.
  • Substance abuse prevention: Implementing substance abuse prevention programs, such as drug testing and employee assistance programs, can help prevent substance abuse among truck drivers.

These prevention strategies can be implemented by trucking companies, health professionals, and individual truck drivers. It is important for all stakeholders to work together to promote the health and well-being of truck drivers, who play a critical role in the transportation industry.

Supporting Our Truckers

Truck drivers face unique challenges that can affect their health and well-being. However, with the implementation of prevention strategies such as regular exercise, healthy eating, sleep hygiene practices, mental health support, hazardous materials training, ergonomic adjustments, regular health check-ups, and substance abuse prevention programs, the health of truck drivers can be protected and improved. 

It is important for trucking companies, health professionals, and individual truck drivers to work together to promote these prevention strategies and ensure the safety and well-being of truck drivers, who play a vital role in our transportation industry.

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Truck Driver Health: Benefits Of Iron for Truck Drivers On The Go

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Truck Driver Health: Benefits Of Iron for Truck Drivers On The Go

Introduction

Iron is a mineral that’s important for transporting oxygen through the body. If you’re a truck driver, you need plenty of energy to drive all day. But did you know that iron deficiency can lead to fatigue and poor concentration? Iron deficiency is also linked with anemia, which can cause hair loss, skin irritations, and cracked lips. So if you’re tired of feeling sluggish or having trouble concentrating on the road—and who isn’t?—make sure your diet includes plenty of iron-rich foods such as red meats (like steak), seafood (such as shrimp), beans, and other legumes (including soybeans), beets and spinach.

Iron deficiency can lead to fatigue and poor concentration.

Iron deficiency can lead to fatigue and poor concentration. The body needs iron to transport oxygen throughout the body, so if you aren’t getting enough in your diet, it will affect how well your body functions. If you’re a truck driver who travels frequently and doesn’t eat enough healthy foods (which often contain iron), this could be cause for concern.

Iron deficiency may also cause hair loss, skin irritations, or cracked lips. Iron helps produce red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout our bodies. If we don’t have enough of it circulating through our system, we might start experiencing some side effects like these three examples mentioned above!

Iron is essential for transporting oxygen through the body.

Iron is an essential mineral that helps transport oxygen in your body. It’s a necessary component of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen through your blood and to all of your cells. If you don’t have enough iron, you may feel fatigued and have trouble concentrating on tasks at work or school.

Iron deficiency can also lead to hair loss (especially around the temples), skin irritations like eczema or rashes, cracked lips–even tooth decay!

Iron deficiency can cause hair loss, skin irritations, and cracked lips.

Iron deficiency can cause hair loss and skin irritations, not to mention cracked lips. If you’re a truck driver on the go and don’t have time for health care professionals, consider taking an iron supplement to keep your body in top shape.

Red meats are the best source of iron.

If you’re an active truck driver on the road, it’s important to know how much iron you need. Red meats are the best source of iron in your diet, but if you aren’t a big fan of red meat or can’t afford it, other sources include:

  • Beans (black beans and chickpeas)
  • Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale
  • Nuts and seeds (almonds)

Seafood is a good source of iron too.

Seafood is an excellent source of iron too. Shrimp, oysters, clams, and squid are all great sources of this essential mineral.

Iron is an essential mineral that helps your blood cells carry oxygen to your organs; it also produces energy from food. A deficiency can cause fatigue, poor concentration, and brittle nails or hair loss (anemia). If you’re eating enough red meat but still feeling tired all the time, you might be low on iron–so make sure to include seafood in your diet!

Beets are an excellent source of iron.

Beets are an excellent source of iron. A cup (156 g) of cooked beets contains 2.5 mg of iron, about one-third of your recommended intake. Beets also have a good amount of vitamin C, which helps the body absorb the iron in this vegetable. Additionally, beets are high in potassium–a mineral that helps keep blood pressure under control and can help lower the risk for heart disease or stroke when eaten regularly.

Beans are another excellent source of iron.

Beans are another excellent source of iron. They’re high in fiber, which helps you to feel full and satisfied. Beans can be eaten in many different ways: on their own as a side dish or main course, incorporated into soups and stews, or blended into smoothies. Beans provide protein, calcium, and magnesium–all essential nutrients for truck drivers on the go!

Find out about easy ways to get enough iron in your diet

  • Eat more red meat. Red meat is a good source of iron and can be easily added to your diet through hamburgers, steaks, or roasts.
  • Eat more seafood. Seafood like tuna or salmon contains high levels of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, which help with brain function and heart health.
  • Eat beets! Beets are high in fiber and vitamin C, which contributes to overall health by improving digestive health while reducing inflammation throughout the body (which may help prevent colds). They also contain calcium which strengthens bones while supporting muscle growth and development.* Try adding some beans to your diet! Beans provide a good source of fiber along with several vitamins, including B6 & C

Conclusion

Iron is an essential nutrient to keep in your diet. It can help you stay energized and focused, so you must know how much iron you need and how to get it into your body.

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How to Improve Supply Chain Logistics with Driver Fitness

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Introduction

The logistics industry is booming and growing but also facing many challenges. One of the biggest issues that companies face is worker health and how to ensure their drivers are safe, productive, and healthy. Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which driver fitness can improve supply chain logistics:

Fatigue is dangerous for everyone

Fatigue is dangerous for everyone. It leads to more accidents, injuries, fatalities and lost time and money.

If you’ve ever been tired at work or on the road you know how dangerous it can be. If you haven’t been there yourself, I’d love for you to listen in on an interview with a truck driver who crashed his tractor trailer because he was so exhausted from working long hours behind the wheel. He has since become an advocate for driver safety – which brings me back to our original question: How do we make sure that drivers don’t get fatigued?

Poor nutrition leads to poor sleep habits

Poor nutrition leads to poor sleep habits, which can cause a lot of problems for your employees. For example, they may be tired when they drive or they might not be able to stay focused on the road. This could lead to accidents and injuries, which are bad for both safety and productivity. It’s also important that you take care of your workers’ health—if they don’t get enough sleep because of poor nutrition, it could make them sick!

Driver health affects productivity

Driver health affects the productivity of your supply chain. Drivers who are not fit and have poor sleep habits experience fatigue, which increases the risk of accidents when driving. Fatigue is a major cause of incidents on the road, so driver health has a direct impact on workplace safety.

Poor nutrition also impacts sleep patterns, creating an unhealthy cycle: poor nutrition leads to poor sleep habits; these poor sleep habits lead to more tiredness through the day; tiredness leads to decreased alertness while driving; decreased alertness while driving increases the risk of accidents and work-related injuries.

Unhealthy drivers are more expensive drivers because they are more likely to call in sick or be injured at work than well-rested workers with healthy habits. They have higher absenteeism rates due to illness or injury (which costs you money), but even when they do show up for work, their lack of energy can affect productivity if they’re unable to complete their core duties as expected due to fatigue or injury caused by lack of restorative sleep time between shifts.”

Unhealthy workers are more expensive workers

  • You’re not only investing in the health of your employees, you’re also investing in their productivity and profits.
  • When workers are healthy, they take fewer sick days. This leads to lower insurance premiums and higher productivity, which lead to higher profit margins.
  • When workers are healthy, they don’t just sit around all day eating Doritos and watching Netflix (or whatever else people do when they’re not at work). Instead, they can get right back to work without missing a beat!

A well-researched and planned approach to monitoring and improving worker health will lead to a more efficient supply chain

As a business owner, you know that supply chain logistics is vital to your bottom line. You’ve invested in the latest technology, have a highly efficient network of warehouses and distribution centers, and have streamlined your processes to increase overall efficiency. In fact, you’re so good at what you do that no one can compete with the speed and accuracy with which your company delivers products from point A to point B.

But what if I told you that there’s still an opportunity for improvement? And not just any improvement—a massive one! The average driver spends 1/3 of their waking hours on the road. That means when they’re not delivering goods or picking them up from various locations, they’re driving around between stops while doing other tasks like logging miles or filling out paperwork. If drivers aren’t healthy enough (both mentally and physically) then this downtime could be used more efficiently by improving worker health through wellness programs like employee assistance programs (EAPs).

The financial benefits are undeniable: improved driver fitness leads to greater productivity which improves overall business performance while reducing costs associated with accidents caused by fatigue-related incidents such as falling asleep behind the wheel due to lack of sleep caused by stressors such as family problems back home or financial problems here at work.”

Conclusion

If you’re looking to improve your supply chain logistics and make your drivers more productive, it pays to start with the health of your workers. By taking steps to ensure that they eat well, get enough sleep, and stay fit you can avoid costly health issues and improve productivity. I hope this article has given you some ideas for how best to do just that!

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How to Stay Healthy Living On The Road As A Full-Time RVer or Trucker

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Introduction

As a full-time RVer, I’ve learned to make staying healthy on the road easy. Here are some great tips you can use to stay healthy living on the road:

Plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of healthy options to choose from.

Planning is an essential part of staying healthy while traveling. You want to ensure you have plenty of healthy options available in case you need something quick and easy.

Make sure you have a good selection of fruits and vegetables on hand to grab them if hunger strikes or to snack on throughout the day. If space allows, consider bringing some whole grain bread or crackers; they’re great for snacking on too!

Planning your meals ahead of time helps keep things organized while traveling. Planning out what meals are going to be served and when helps prevent last-minute panics about finding something healthy when hunger sets in at lunchtime.

Make a schedule for exercise – and stick to it!

You can’t afford to be a couch potato while on the road. You will never have time for it. You have to plan your exercise in advance and then stick with it.

Exercise doesn’t have to be boring and tedious, but if you are not used to exercising, then it may seem that way. The key is finding something that suits your personality and lifestyle—something fun!

Make sure whatever type of exercise or physical activity you choose can fit into your RV or truck easily. For example walking, jogging, hiking trails nearby with the family dog in tow; picking a time to sneak in 15 minutes of exercise or movement; doing yoga routines (which most RVs now come equipped with) online yoga has made this very easy to implement. Check out Hope Zvara’s YouTube channel for free. Riding stationary bikes inside each day after work… there are endless possibilities!

Stretch and stretch some more.

Stretching is one of the most important aspects of any workout routine; if you’re living on the road as an RVer or a trucker, it’s even more important. Being stuck in a small RV can cause many of your muscles to tighten up and become stiff. Stretches should be done before and after exercise to help prevent injury and keep you limber for future activities.

Stretching can be done anywhere at any time—just make sure that you’re safe from prying eyes or possible injuries from other objects in your immediate area! You don’t want someone seeing you stretching out their wayward wires with their power tools! Here are some examples:

  • Standing forward bend stretch: Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, then flex forward at the waist until balanced over one leg. Hold for 30 seconds; repeat on the opposite leg for another 30 seconds
  • Seated hamstring stretch: Sit on the floor with legs straight out in front of the body; bend right knee toward chest while keeping left leg straight out behind body; hold the position for 20 seconds before switching sides

Find something fun and new to do that gets you moving.

If you’re looking for some fun, new ways to exercise and stay healthy on the road, try these:

  • Go for a walk. Take yourself and your pup for a walk—maybe even around the campground! Or maybe go with a friend of yours who also has their camper in that area.
  • Go for a run. Run around the park or trail near where you’re parked, or find one nearby if there isn’t one at your current location. If you don’t like running, consider biking instead; make sure that whatever mode of transportation (bike or feet) will work best with your body type and any injuries/disabilities that may need extra care while exercising!
  • Go swimming at a nearby pool when the weather permits (this is great during summertime). Some parks and hotels even have pools that are open year-round so this could be an option no matter what time of year it is! Swimming can help strengthen muscles throughout your entire body, including those used during day-to-day activities such as walking up stairs or carrying groceries! Be careful though—don’t swim alone unless someone else knows how long you’ve been gone from home so they can call authorities if necessary.”

Be active with the kids.

I know this might not apply to my trucker friends. But when you want to be active with the kids, try going on a family walk. Walk around your RV park or campground and explore the area, getting fresh air and exercising at the same time. If you don’t want to go outside, play active games with them indoors. And for truckers, what about walking with a friend your team driver when you have a few minutes or walking and talking at the truck stop? Family can be anyone, right?

You should encourage your children to be active in other ways as well. For example, take them swimming or bicycling during their free time instead of just doing nothing on their electronic devices all day long (which of course they will do anyway).

Get enough sleep.

The importance of sleep cannot be overstated. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep a night, but this number will vary depending on your age and activity level.

As you can imagine, travel can make it difficult to get enough sleep since you’ll likely be in different locations at different times each day. But there are ways to maximize your experience and still get the rest you need! For example:

  • Use blackout curtains or shades for your sleeping area—especially if you’re traveling during daylight hours! If not possible, consider installing blackout shades on windows (or even use duct tape). You’ll thank us later when you don’t have any trouble getting up after an early morning flight!
  • Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine before bedtime because these all have stimulant properties that affect our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night

Staying healthy on the road requires lots of planning and follow-through, but it’s worth it!

You’ll be tempted to stay up late, eat fast food, and skip your workouts. But it’s important to plan ahead so that you can make healthy choices that support your goals. Here are some of the things we do:

  • We schedule our workouts into our day planner or calendar on our phones
  • We try to find activities that are fun and exciting but also get our heart rates up
  • We take time each day for meditation and/or reflection

Conclusion

Following these tips will ensure you have the best time possible on your next RV trip or trucking adventure.

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4 Tips For Looking and Feeling Healthy As a Truck Driver

While the truck driver lifestyle seems to give everyone the impression that it’s sleeping in crammed truck stops, and eating junk food picked up at a gas station, this doesn’t necessarily need to be the lifestyle for all truckers. In fact, this type of lifestyle should be avoided considering how unhealthy it is. So, how can a truck driver feel and look healthy while still carrying out the truck driving career? Keep reading on to find out more!

Image source

Drink plenty of water

Keeping a hydrated lifestyle is an important part of being a truck driver. Not only does it help to keep you feeling and looking great, but it can also keep you from experiencing fatigue and other health-related issues. Plenty of water in your vehicle is an easy way to ensure that you’re staying hydrated and getting the right amount of nutrition. During your long hours on the road, it can be easy to overlook the importance of drinking plenty of water. However, drinking enough water can improve your overall health, help you maintain your energy levels, and can even help you lose weight.

One of the most common signs of dehydration is fatigue. When your body is dehydrated, your heart has to work harder to pump blood, and you can experience muscle cramps and overheat. You will want to try your best to avoid this at all costs, especially when you’re on the road.

Avoid junk food

Taking care of your health is crucial to truck driving. Keeping a healthy diet can help you avoid getting sick and keep you in good shape to handle the stresses of the job. A truck driver’s diet should contain plenty of fruits and vegetables. These foods contain essential vitamins and minerals and can also help lower blood pressure. They are also low in calories. This is more apparent if you’re closely watching your oral hygiene or are wearing invisible braces.

While there are many other factors to consider when it comes to a trucker’s health, a healthy diet is important. Eating a balanced diet can prevent obesity and other health problems. A healthy diet also includes avoiding junk food. Fast food joints are full of calorie-rich foods that can wreak havoc on your body. Aside from consuming a healthy diet, you should also drink enough water. While the truck stops may be loaded with soda and other soft drinks, it’s vital to stick to water.

Take breaks

Taking breaks to look healthy while you’re on the road can be a great way to boost your productivity and performance. When you take a break, you let your mind refocus and relax. This can help you retain information and find creative solutions to problems. In addition to improving your ability to focus, breaks can also help your mind recover from fatigue. If you are working long hours or you are battling fatigue and stress, it is important to take regular breaks. You especially should not forget about getting a good nights sleep. While the trucker world can be filled with plenty of all-nighters, if you want to look and feel healthy, then this means you’ll need to

Stay connected

Having a career as a truck driver can be a lonely experience. For many, this means being away from family and friends for months and even weeks at a time. Whether you are just starting out or have been in the industry for a while, staying connected with friends and family while on the road is important; long hours alone on the road can cause burnout and depression, but technology can make it easier than ever to connect with your loved ones from a distance. It may also help to talk to fellow truckers.

While truckers now more than ever can stay connected thanks to smartphones, it’s important to try to implement these in your life. This can be vital. Remember, being social is a major aspect of looking and feeling healthy while living the trucker lifestyle.

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National Chiropractic Health Month: How to Adjust Your Driver Fitness

You are behind the wheel for hours a day, and it doesn’t take long to realize that your mobile office can cause you some problems. Pain is a regular occurrence for most truck drivers and is often looked at as something that just comes with the territory. But we want to change that, so we partnered with Truckstop this October for National Chiropractic Health Month to let drivers know that there are solutions out there that can help you not just with finding a load but with taking care of the person driving it too. We surveyed over 200 drivers here at Mother Trucker Yoga, and of them, 77% said neck and back pain were their top three most significant occupation pain points. 

 

WHY DO SO MANY TRUCK DRIVERS HAVE PROBLEMS WITH BACK PAIN: ADJUST YOUR DRIVER FITNESS 

 

REPETITIVE STRESS INJURIES IN TRUCK DRIVERS

 

Repetitive stress injuries don’t just occur in the office by people who type on a keyboard all day. Repetitive stress injuries also can affect truck drivers, especially when it comes to sitting and driving. The continuous daily driving position of a C-Curved spine and 90-degree angle at the hip, mixed with a side of clutch and shifting, can affect the lower back, neck, shoulder, and hip. But on top of the long- hours sitting, the constant vibrations of the road can make it even more strenuous on the spine and joints. 

 

Mother Trucker Yoga is excited to be teaming up with Truckstop to show how the Truckstop Go app ™ can help you book loads and provide assistance with Factoring. Truckstop takes the health of your business as seriously as Mother Trucker Yoga takes your health and fitness. We both want to make it easy for drivers to manage their day, their work, and their health on every level, and by teaming up, we can do that for even more drivers like you. 

 

HERE ARE A FEW HELPFUL STRATEGIES TO GET BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL WITH LESS PAIN 

 

  1. Tune up your posture. 

Sitting all day puts all sorts of stress and strain on your body; mix that with the effects of gravity and you have some significant back and neck pain. Improving your posture can be as simple as the 5-Point Posture Safety Check. Before you go out and invest in some quick fixes, consider what you can do from the truck to fix where the problem could stem from. 

Adjust-Your-Driver-Fitness-National-Chiropractic-Month-Mother-Trucker-Yoga-Image Driving Fitness Posture

  1. Align your pelvis. – Keep it level and visualize sitting on the bottom edge of your pants pockets, not the top. 
  2. Slightly arch your back. – You want to keep the S-Curve in your spine present. Long-term sitting can cause more of a C-Spine shape, making it difficult to absorb some impacts while driving (much like a spring).
  3. Shoulders down. – You might start the day sitting tall, but after a few hours, you find yourself hunched over the steering wheel. Check-in regularly with the back of the seat and use that touch point to relax your shoulders and back. You might be surprised to find how far forward you are. 
  4. Open your chest and relax your arms. – Lift your heart and relax your elbows. A collapsed chest can cause a mysterious pain in the upper back and even shallow breathing, leading to increased stress and anxiety. Lift your heart and open your chest, and you will immediately find yourself breathing more deeply and feeling better. 
  5. Slide your chin slightly in. – Forward head is ubiquitous while driving and puts a lot of strain on your upper back and neck, causing immediate pain and even headaches. Take your first two fingers and with a level chin, slide your chin and head back a few inches to help it sit back on your shoulders where it belongs. 

 

These are all learned behaviors and habits; try setting the alarm every hour to make a particular sound that will notify you as a reminder to adjust your posture. Doing a posture safety check may help you while you’re out on the road and can’t get to the chiropractor for an adjustment. And when you do make it to your chiropractor, you now have healthy postural habits to help those adjustments hold up for longer, which means you feel better for the long haul. 

 

2. Stretch Regularly

It doesn’t have to be fancy, but a few minutes of stretching sprinkled throughout your day can be a game changer regarding how you physically feel and in keeping your body healthy and in alignment. 

Three Simple Truck Driver Fitness Stretches To Do Daily: 

1. Overhead Extension 

  • Sit tall.
  • Reach one or both arms up overhead.
  • Place your hands up against or towards the ceiling of your truck.
  • Lean into your underarms to feel a stretch.
  • Or interlace your fingers and press your palms up and back to stretch.

Adjust Your Driver Fitness: National Chiropractic Month Mother Trucker Yoga Reach Image

2. Seat Belt Spinal Twist 

  • Sit tall.
  • Take a deep breath in and rotate towards your seat belt.
  • Try grabbing it with the opposite arm.
  • And try to twist your spine a little further to stretch.
  • Hold for five to ten breaths.
  • Unwind and rotate the other way as you click your seat belt.
  • Take five to ten breaths. 
  • Slowly unwind and come back to the center.

Adjust Your Driver Fitness: National Chiropractic Month Mother Trucker Yoga Reach Image Twist

3. Drivers Seat Hip Stretch 

  • Make space in front of you wherever you are sitting.
  • Bring one leg up and bend your knee.
  • Let your leg drop open and rest on your seat with your foot towards your opposite thigh.
  • Gently press against the thigh with your hand to help open the hip.
  • Take a deep breath and sit tall. 
  • Slowly hinge from your hip forward to increase the stretch.
  • Hold for five to ten breaths. 
  • Repeat on the opposite side. 

Adjust Your Driver Fitness: National Chiropractic Month Mother Trucker Yoga Reach Image Hip Strech

3. Prioritize Your Time 

I know this can be easier said than done, when you feel like you are always rushing, chasing, and playing catchup with the day-to-day duties from paperwork, to finding a load, to insurance issues, or just managing everyday stressors. This can leave you with a lack of desire to do anything to take care of yourself. Truckstop does a fantastic job helping drivers with the day-to-day operations to help make your job and looking for loads that much easier so that you have more time for self-care and stretching. 

 

When I see a company with a platform designed for large and small trucking outfits and Owner Operators, and they are passionate about truck driver health (and don’t just say that because it sounds good), I dig into seeing what they are like. Truckstop does an excellent job reporting load rates and the Truckstop Go app lets users book loads on-the-go, enabling them to have the time to sneak in a stretch here and there without taking any time out of their busy lives, which in today’s world is a must.

 

If you are using the Truckstop Go app while safely parked or at home, try this: 

  • Just before you log on, reach up overhead, look up, and arch back slightly to stretch to help combat rounded shoulders. 
  • When scrolling looking for the perfect load, stand up and do a few squats or calf raises to improve circulation in your legs. 
  • When you are excited because you got paid so quickly for your load and now have valuable time to spend on your health and want to celebrate – run in place in your chair or the driver’s seat by swiftly moving your arms like you are running and lifting and lowering your legs as fast as you can for 30 seconds to get your heart rate up and tone your core. 

 

YOU DESERVE TO FEEL GOOD AGAIN. 

What is one small, simple change you can make today to improve your health? Don’t fall into the trap of needing to do it all at once or needing to overhaul your life. Think small and consistent. This is about building healthy habits over time; we know you can’t do this alone. And now you don’t need to. 

 

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Truck Driver Fitness How To Get Fitter Quicker

Truck Driver Fitness How To Get Fitter Quicker 

 

By exercising, you’ve already made a fantastic first step toward a healthier, happier you. Most of us have secretly hoped that if we ate enough junk food and watched enough television, we would eventually end up with a perfectly toned figure. However, it is not going to happen. Though it may seem like a waste of time and energy at first, working out regularly pays off in more ways than one. Follow these guidelines to get into the best shape of your life in a timescale that works for you.

 

Exercise Every Day

Get at least an hour’s worth of movement every day. You don’t have to do more than you’re capable of or comfortable with, but you should incorporate moderate exercise into your daily routine. Doing a workout with greater intensity will help you lose weight more quickly. Try going for a brisk hour-long walk, as an example. That exercise can be broken down throughout the day in your pockets of time. Waiting for a load? You could walk laps in the yard, do some simple yoga in the cab, or pull out a hand weight or soup can (yes, use what you have) and do some bicep curls. When it comes to truck driver fitness, how to get fitter quicker is the way to do it. 

 

Warning: Working out vigorously will cause muscle soreness. Even though it’s annoying, it’s often a sign of positive changes in your body. After each workout, it’s important to replenish lost fluids, stretch, and refuel with a meal with a fair amount of protein. Protein helps to rebuild your muscles, which is what you want to replace the fat you’re losing. And don’t forget bout essential minerals to help your muscles recover. Adding some Celtic sea salt to your water can help you stay happy and healthy. 

 

Sleep Well

As a truck driver, sleep can be a struggle, but some people don’t want to spend time sleeping. In other words, we don’t want to ‘waste’ time sleeping when we already have so little to spare. However, six to eight hours of sleep is vital. This will keep you going all day, but if you feel tired when you get home from work, feel free to take a short nap before you work out. You should only take a half-hour nap, as anything more will make it hard for you to stay up later.

Truck Driver Fitness How To Get Fitter Quicker mother trucker yoga image sleep

 

It’s also essential to have a good mattress. The type of mattress will depend on your needs, but if you need a firm one, look at these options: https://thesleepshopinc.com/best-extra-firm-mattress/. No matter what, it’s always best to spend more on a mattress than on the bed, as the mattress does all the work. Truck driver fitness how to get fitter quicker isn’t just about exercise; it’s also about your sleep fitness. How fit is your sleep? A good quality mattress is essential to how you feel during waking hours on the road or at home. 

 

Keep Track Of Your Calories

In simple terms, if you want to lose weight, you need to expend more energy than the calories you take in. This sounds easy, but it isn’t always so straightforward. Sometimes it’s possible to forget to count something if it was ‘just’ a snack or a drink, for example. Plus, how do you know how many calories you spend exercising? Most drivers just don’t move enough during the day, and paying attention to what you eat is essential, but on the other side, you need to move more. Our bodies are designed to move, we are meant to move, and no diet will replace your body’s need to be active. And that activity helps you subtract from the calories you eat to help manage your weight.

So many experts want to teach you elaborate and complicated programs to manage your diet, but let’s start small and simple, calories in and out. This alone will help you increase your activity which will keep your body healthier, and by focusing on more nutritious foods, you can cut calorie consumption even more.

 

The first problem can be solved with a food diary. You’ll better understand what you’re eating by writing everything down and learning about the number of calories in it. The second issue is harder to deal with, but one method to use is to know what your recommended daily calorie intake is. If you know this, you eat just under that number, and you exercise, you’ll be on the right path. 

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Truck Driver Fitness: 4 Ways to Cool Down After a Workout or Long Drive

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A long run, a challenging workout at the gym, or a stressful day at work or on the road can take its toll on your body. When you’re tired and sore after a workout or sitting all day in the truck, throwing ice on your muscles and calling it quits for the day is tempting. But cooling down and rehabbing your muscles is essential for preventing injuries and allowing your body to recover. When it comes to truck driver fitness, there are four ways to cool down after a workout or long drive.

Truck Driver Fitness: 4 Ways to Cool Down After a Workout or Long Drive stretching image mother trucker yoga blog

Following these simple ways will help you cool down from a tough workout or long drive without overworking yourself even more:

Stretch

Stretching is an excellent way for someone focused on truck driver fitness to cool down after a workout or a long drive. It helps to reduce soreness, improve flexibility, and prevent injury.

Stretching is one of the best ways to cool down after a workout or a long drive. The main benefits of stretching are that it helps with muscle soreness, increases range of motion, and reduces the risk of injury. You should stretch for about five minutes after you’ve finished exercising because this allows your muscles time to relax and recover from their exertion.

For those in the transportation industry, working out isn’t always possible, but the truck driver fitness four ways to cool down after a workout or a long drive makes it super simple to feel your best. And as many of you know, Mother Trucker Yoga is all about functional stretching. You are sitting all day, and your body can quickly begin to feel stiff, much like after a workout when you don’t focus or implement stretching into your daily routine.

Try these stretches:

Try a simple Forward Bend or a twist in your bed by dropping your knees side to side or reaching up overhead in the driver’s seat; all these simple stretches count towards truck driver fitness, four ways to cool down after a workout or a long drive.

Massage

Massage is excellent for muscle recovery. It can help reduce muscle soreness and speed up your recovery time, which is essential when choosing a workout that will help you stay cool after working out. Massage also helps with circulation, meaning your blood is getting where it needs to go faster, lessening the chance of overheating!

Not sure how to implement a massage on the go, stay tuned for the Mother Trucker Yoga Road Relief Massage Gun!

Roll those muscles

Roll those muscles. Your muscles are aching and need care, so use a foam roller or tennis ball to massage the soreness. This will help you release tension in the muscle tissue at the same time as it increases blood flow to aid recovery. The science: Massage helps reduce pain and inflammation by increasing circulation, aiding faster recovery from exercise.

Rolling can include using a foam roller or small travel massage balls like the Road Relief Massage Balls available for drivers as tools for truck driver fitness, four ways to cool down after a workout or a long drive. 

Rolling breaks up tight, stiff fascia and helps you feel more mobile and less stiff and tight, and what you keep blaming as you being old could just be your fascia lacking mobility.

Rest those muscles

After a workout, your body needs some time to rest, recover, and cool down. This is important because it allows your muscles to repair themselves and return to their pre-workout state. When you’re done with your workout, it’s best to give yourself at least 30 minutes of rest before you move on to the next thing.

During this period of rest, your body can begin recovering from the strenuous activities you’ve just completed. If you continue working out after your workout without taking any time to rest, you could injure yourself or damage your muscles further.

After a workout, try taking a walk or doing some light stretching exercises so that your body can become accustomed to being active again. Alternatively, you can find a way to rest and relax your muscles, whether having a rest day or getting help from places like Trulieve. 

 

Conclusion

No matter how you cool down, it’s important to remember that your body needs time to recover from a workout. If you’re not taking care of yourself, the gains made during exercise could be offset by injuries or illness later on down the road. 

Plus, if you’re overdoing it in the gym without cooling down properly between sets—or even days!—then there’s no way around that soreness when it comes back again tomorrow morning (or later today).

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5 Strategies to improve your health in 2022: New Guide

We all resolve for the new year to follow. It can be anything from learning a new language to improving your health in the coming months. If you decide to have excellent health, better driver fitness, or want to do better than last year, this blog is for you! Here, we tackle the five strategies to improve your trucking fitness and make 2022 a year of health. Without further ado, let’s jump right into the five strategies to improve your health in 2022.

Top 5 strategies to improve your health in 2022

Look After Your Mental Health.

Our brain is the powerhouse of our body, and having good mental health can reflect physical and emotional impacts on you. So how do you look after your mental health and driver fitness? Start with meditation and mindfulness. 

Please pick up the habit of unwinding by writing in journals because it provides emotional comfort and stability. Drink green tea because it delays age-related cognitive decline and makes us more agile. Be kinder to yourself and remind yourself that you are only human!

Eat Right

A balanced diet today goes a long way! Enrich yourself in low-fat diets that include plenty of fruits and vegetables and sources of protein, fiber, and carbohydrates. Avoid having excessive sugar as it can lead to a condition known as insulin resistance, a precursor to developing diabetes. 

Find a balanced diet that works for you, and stick to it! Reduce your intake of alcohol, especially after 3 pm. Keep your system free from nicotine and caffeine, as these stimulators yield harmful benefits to your body.

Get Your Body Moving

It shouldn’t come across as a great surprise that exercise is critical to your health. Exercising improves cardiovascular strength and releases endorphins, which are happy hormones. It is linked to improving immunity against diseases, and exercising outdoors can enrich your body with vitamin D from the sun. 

Now here’s the thing: you don’t need to go to the gym to exercise. You could exercise with the help of online blogs or YouTube videos- like Mother Trucker Yoga’s YouTube page, teaching just a few minutes of exercise in your trucking fitness routine.

Be careful there are many people out there with fitness videos, but many of them are not trained to teach. Look for videos and blogs written by experienced professionals and ones geared towards a driver’s pain points.

Get Enough Sleep

Happy sleeping! Busy living has disrupted many of our peaceful lives, but it is critical to have an excellent 8-hour sleep each night. Sleeping well has many proven health benefits, and you’ll be surprised to know so. Sleeping boosts your body’s immunity, increases your cognitive reflexes, reduces aging of the brain, and helps in memory strengthening. You should ensure you’re sleeping and waking up each day simultaneously, don’t eat heavy meals before bed, and turn off devices an hour before sleeping.

Hydrate Yourself

Water is mostly what we are made of, which keeps us healthy. Water aids in alertness, keeping your skin and organs healthy. It helps you remain refreshed and work at the best of your mental abilities. An average adult needs eight glasses of water, and so should you if you want to have the best trucking fitness! This concludes our five strategies to improve your health in 2022.

5 Strategies to improve your health in 2022: New Guide Hydrate Yourself Mother Trucker Yoga blog image

Conclusion

We have brought you some driver fitness tricks to put up your sleeve this year. All you have to do is gather motivation and willpower to stick through and become healthier, happier, and have an excellent trucking fitness routine this year!

 

If you are ready to shift gears and join the movement.

Sign up to be a part of Mother Trucker Yoga’s LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Platform & APP!

Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

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Truck Driver Appreciation Week 2022 Free Truck Driver Health Challenge

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With Truck Driver Appreciation Week 2022, September 11th through the 17th, 2022, we want to celebrate.

Trucker Appreciation Week 2022 Free Challenge!

Mother Trucker Yoga has teamed up with St. Christopher’s Trucker Relief Fund for a FREE Health Challenge again this year!

Driver mental health is at an all-time high for truck drivers’ health issues and needs more attention.

Because drivers spend 90% of their day alone and often coupled with erratic work and sleep schedules, a focus on mental wellness is much needed.

Hope Zvara from Mother Trucker Yoga and Julie Dillon from St. Christopher’s Trucker Relief Fund have teamed up again to bring drivers a 5-Day FREE Challenge called Brain Breaks.

Brain Breaks 5-Day Challenge Brings You 5 Ways to Feel Great!

Do you feel like your brain never shuts off? Do you struggle to get to sleep?

Feel stuck in “fight or flight” mode?

We will discuss ways to reduce those stress levels and give the brain a daily reset.

What is Brain Breaks?

Brain Breaks is a FREE 5-day Challenge to help drivers learn simple, easy-to-implement strategies to feel their best no matter what the day brings.

What this means is every driver can feel good no matter what.

HOW TO GET SIGNED UP TO JOIN THE FREE TRUCK DRIVER APPRECIATION WEEK 2022 CHALLENGE:

Please register below to participate in this FREE week-long program in honor of you, the professional driver!

After registering, be sure to join the Facebook group.

This is where the live sessions will be at 9:00 am CT each day, Monday-Friday, September 12-16th.

 

Our Trucker Appreciation Week Brain Breaks Focus Will Be:

September 12th-#MondayMovement how to use movement to give your brain a much-needed break.

September 13th-#TuneInTuesday how the power of sound and music can curb any mood.

September 14th-#WisdomWednesday using the ancient practices of breathwork and meditation to improve mood, clarity, and focus.

September 15th-#ThinkAboutItThursday see how using simple visualization techniques can help you see life more positively and help you feel more confident in all you do.

September 16th-#FoodieFriday find out how food plays a role in how you feel and what foods to eat to give your brain the fuel it needs to be at its best.

How to Sign Up:

 

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